Computer simulations for experiments involving the impact of one object with another object have widespread applications. For example, automobile manufacturers use such simulations in designing safer vehicles. In a totally different technology field, scientist uses such simulations to study the effectiveness of a missile destroying a moving or stationary target. Regardless of the particular application, it is an overall goal to design a computer simulation that can accurately produce data concerning possible outcomes of the physical phenomena of interest pertaining to two or more objects. However, there is a tradeoff between accuracy and simulation run time. Generally, the more complex a simulation is in order to achieve better accuracy, the longer it takes for that simulation to run to completion. In fact, very complex computer simulations, such as so-called “hydrocodes” can take several days or longer to execute on highly sophisticated models of certain physical events.
Computer simulations that model the interaction or engagement of two or more objects typically execute numerous computations at each time step through the engagement. For example, the computations may be based on equations for the laws of conservation of mass, energy and momentum. One type of modeling technique uses data for particles that represent each of the objects involved in the engagement. The particles representing the objects interact with each other according to the laws of conservation of mass, energy and momentum. The system of particles, also referred to as a computational mesh, is updated at each of a plurality of time steps through the engagement of the objects. At each of the time steps, it is necessary to consider the influence that particles from within the same object and from other objects have on each other. However, the reality is that at any given time step, not all of the particles in the system may have an active role in the engagement. Moreover, while each particle is affected by its neighboring particles, not all particles have a significant influence on other particles in the system.
If, at each time step, the number of particles involved in the computations is limited to those particles determined to have an active role in the engagement, the run time of the computer simulation can be greatly reduced with little or no expense to the fidelity of the results. Further, if each particle's significant neighboring particles can be efficiently determined at each time step, the run time of the simulation can be reduced.